During Black History Month this year, the diocesan Racial Justice Forum is recommending the book, ‘Black Voices on Britain’ edited by Hakim Adi.
St Anne’s Church in Bewdley will once again be forming a book club to mark Black History Month. They will be reading the book together and then meeting to discuss it over three sessions later in October. LLM and Forum member, Robert Barbour explains:
“Black Voices on Britain is an anthology of writing by Black voices of people from England, America Africa and the Caribbean who lived in or visited Britain from the eighteenth century to the early twentieth century.
There are seventeen accounts, all written by the people themselves. Some are long and others quite short. Many were impressed by the warm welcome they received from British families and the greater equality available than in America. Some went on to wonder at the contrast between this and British policy in the Caribbean. We encounter a church synod in Scotland voting to accept a large slave-related dividend that will enable the building of new churches while there are protests against any such action outside. We encounter a slave who has been brought to England escaping and navigating the underground networks that sought to help escaping slaves.
Black Voices on Britain is a work of history. We shall once again be forming a book club at St Anne’s Church in Bewdley to study a book for Black History Month in October and this is our chosen book. It has been attractively produced as part of the Macmillan Collector’s Library. We shall read it in advance and then discuss it over three sessions later in the month. We hope to gain a greater understanding of the historical context of race relations in Britain and compare with the situation today.”
Contact Robert Barbour if you would like to join the Bewdley group or why not set up something similar in your own parish.
Find the book: Black Voices on Britain
Find more resources for Black History Month on our Racial Justice Forum page.
